Improvement in car-couplings



C. H. WOOD. Car-Coupling.

No. 204,470. Patented .lune 4,1878.

WITNEssEs xNvENToR) W @@f/gmfw,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES H. WOOD, OF SEATTLE, WASHINGTON TERRITORY, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF HIS RIGHT TO W. H. SHOUDY, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN CAR-COUPLINGS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 204,470, dated June 4, 1878; application filed July 21, 1877.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, GHAnLns H. Woon, of Seattle, in the county of King and Territory of Washington, have invented an Improved. Car-Coupling; and. I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompa- Dying drawings, making part of this specification- Figure 1 being a central longitudinal vertical section of two car draw-heads provided with my improved coupling; Figs. 2 and 3, views of parts detached.

Like letters designate corresponding parts in all of the figures.

In the drawings, A A represent two drawheads of adjacent cars; B B, coupling-pins therein, and C an ordinary coupling-link.

The purpose of my invention is to produce an improved device by which. the cars are made self-coupling, and thus the dangers and inconvenience of the common couplings are obviated. l

My improved construction is substantially as follows:

In the back part of each draw-head is a chamber, D, in which are pivoted two tumblers, E G, peculiarly arranged for holding up the coupling-pin successively, first. to enable the coupling-link to enter the draw-head and be automatically coupled therein; and, secondly, when coupled therein, so that the coupling-pin may be raised without hinderance, and held up for uncoupling.

The forward tumbler E is pivoted at ct, and so weighted, as at b, below the pivot that, when left free, its upper end o will swing forward under the raised coupling-pin B, as shown at the left hand in Fig. 1.

The mouth of the draw-head is inclined at the top and bottom, as shown, so that the coupling-link, in entering, is automatically directed against the said forward tumbler above its pivot ct and below its upper end c, as shown. This tumbler operates, therefore, to support the coupling-pin when the couplin g-link is not in place in the draw-head, as before the cars are brought together for coupling; but as soon as the coupling-link enters the draw-head and strikes the tumbler it push es the same back from under the coupling-pin, whereby the coupling takes place automatically. But this tumbler alone does not make a complete coupling, since it does not provide for holding up the coupling-pin when uncoupling, because the coupling-link does not then allow the tumbler E to fall forward.

For the latter purpose I employ the auxiliary tumbler G, which is located behind and partially over the tumbler E, and quite close to it, and is pivoted at d a little lower than the pivot a of the forward tumbler. Its upper end is curved or bent forward, and it is so arranged in the draw-head, substantially as shown at the right hand in Fig. l, that, when free, it will fall forward under the coupling-pin B when raised, and hold the same up, as represented.

The arrangement of the two tumblers is such that the tumbler G cannot fall forward when the forward tumbler E is dropped forward, and vice versa. This arrangement is effected, as represented, by means of a toothcatch, f, on the back side of the tumbler E, acting upward, and a corresponding toothcatch, g, on the front side of the tumbler G, catching or holding downward.

The combined arrangement of these two catches is such that, as the tumbler E falls forward, its catch f acts against the catch g of the tumbler G, and moves the said tumbler backward; but as the forward tumbler E is forced backward by the coupling-link C entering the draw-head, as shown at the right hand in Fig. 1, the catch f descends away from the catch g, and allows the tumbler G to fall forward and hold up the coupling-pin when uncoupling. This rear tumbler has a hole through it, in which a spring or bumper, H, secured at the rear end of the cavity of the draw-head, extends forward to receive the contact of the forward tumbler when the coupling-link is forced against the said tumbler, without interfering with the motion of the rear tumbler.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The weighted tumbler E, with its catch f, and tumbler G, with its catch g, arranged and. operating substantially as described, in combination with the draw-head A, coupling-pin B, and coupling-link C, substantially as and for the purpose herein specified.

CHARLES H. WOOD.

Witnesses D. W. HU'rcHiNsoN, E. BRYAN. 

